


The Dog's Master

by junko



Series: the distance between us [13]
Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-14
Updated: 2012-05-14
Packaged: 2017-11-05 09:19:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/404765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What Matsumoto said to Renji has gotten under his skin.  Unfortunately for his pride, it also seems to be true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dog's Master

Matsumoto’s comments about the dog and his master irritated Renji so much that he growled at the quartermaster when he found out exactly how much a dress uniform cost. At least his anger fueled a brisk walk, so he’d ended up back at the captain’s quarters in time for their diner meeting with minutes to spare. Not that he was in the best headspace to deal with Byakuya Kuchiki right now, however.

After kicking off his waraji, he stood outside the door just working on unclenching his jaw and trying to remember how to breathe calmly.

Byakuya slid open the door suddenly. His eyes were wide, though his voice was calmly curious: “Is everything all right out here?”

Renji wanted to shout: _next time don’t fucking mark me_! But, it wasn’t entirely Byakuya’s fault he’d ended up with bruised wrists, so, instead, he said, “Yeah. Peachy.”

Byakuya frowned silently at him for a long moment before stepping aside to let him enter. The captain was still dressed in his haori and usual silk scarf. Even though he’d known they’d be discussing business, Renji was disappointed to see the kenseikan still in place. Byakuya was so much easier to deal with when his hair was unbound.

“Food will be arriving shortly,” Byakuya said, gesturing to the low table. There was a tea service set out already. “Sit.”

“Stay,” Renji muttered. “Roll over. Beg.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Renji said, plopping down, cross-legged on to the floor in front of the table.

“Clearly something’s bothering you.” Byakuya said, settling in seiza position across from Renji. “What is it?”

Renji was spared from answering by the arrival of a servant bearing dinner trays. He thought he remembered her name--Aio, was it? He was getting to know most of the kitchen staff pretty well since he was always sniffing around for leftovers.

He watched her deft placement of food feeling like he ought to offer to help. He was supposed to ignore her, but it was almost impossible for him to keep his eyes off her as she worked. She was small and petite with tiny hands and jet black hair cut in a simple bob. Her outfit was plain, too, a black kimono with no embellishments, nothing to distract or stand out. She kept her eyes downcast, completely to herself. Renji wondered how she could stand such utter subservience, never even getting even the barest acknowledgement.

“Renji, answer me,” Byakuya said, paying no heed to the woman fluttering around them. She offered Byakuya a hot towel for his hands. “Tell me what has you so upset.”

The servant came around to Renji with one for him. He wiped his hands and then folded it up and placed it on the table. “Matsumoto said something stupid. That’s all.”

“Ah, Captain Hitsugaya’s voluptuous lieutenant. Isn’t she a friend of yours?”

“Hmph,” Renji said. “She just thinks she knows me.”

“I see,” Byakuya said.

The servant poured the captain’s tea. She hesitated for a second, but then did the same for Renji. Returning the tea pot to the table, she backed out with a series of bows.

After saying a polite thank you over the food, Byakuya asked, “A lovers’ spat, was it?”

“Please,” Renji rolled his eyes, picking up the bowl of miso to sip. “The most I’ve ever done with her is buy lunch. And that was kind of… an accident.”

Byakuya pursed his lips, almost as if trying to suppress a smile. “Then what could’ve possibly put you in such a foul mood?”

 _You._ Chewing on a noodle, Renji tried to decide if he really wanted to get into this with the captain. Starting off dinner with ‘getting kicked out of your bed sucked, I liked sex but I kind of hope this tying up thing isn’t full-time, and, what the fuck, did you seriously use a sleep spell on me after?’ was a recipe for disaster with anyone, but was suicide with someone as prickly as Byakuya Kuchiki.

 _The light reveals the cutting edge_. Renji was beginning to realize that Zabimaru’s riddle was trying to teach him something about moments like this one. Don’t be fooled by the gentle beauty of cherry blossoms; they were knives. But, like with any blade, there was a flat edge--a safer side, not reflected by the light.

The trouble was seeing it.

So Renji shrugged, helping himself to a few pickled vegetables, “It’s the dog comments. Sometimes they get on my nerves. I can’t seem to leave _Inuzuri_ behind.”

Byakuya sipped his tea. “Yet you wear your past on your face, like a badge of honor.”

“What? You mean these?” Renji pointed to his forehead, where the tattoos were hidden under his headband. “They don’t represent where I’m from.”

“No?”

“No, these aren’t about who I was, but who I became.” _Who he was still becoming, who he wanted so desperately to be_. The tattoos started in Academy, and had grown throughout his tenure at the Eleventh. The more he understood about fighting, about his zanpaktō, the more ink he got. It was no surprise at all that the first time he saw Zabimaru’s externalization, the demon was marked the same way.

“Besides,” Renji continued after taking a sip of tea. “Why would I want any piece of that shithole on me, under my skin? I hated that place. The only decent thing in _Inuzuri_ …” _Was Rukia._ But, he could hardly say that to Byakuya, could he? “…left. So I did too.”

Byakuya listened, his eyes on his plate. Very softly, he said, “I wondered if, perhaps, your tattoos were a shield, a protection against something—a way of not _ever_ being bare.”

Renji had never thought of them like that, like a talisman against weakness. No, if anything, they were an expression of his growing strength. He shook his head. “Shouldn’t we be discussing this blossom festival of yours?” he asked, trying to decide if he wanted to try the eel or not. It smelled too spicy for his taste. “Speaking of needing protection, are you planning on running into any ex-fiancées or jilted lovers?”

Byakuya let out a little huff of a laugh. “Suitors, more like. And, yes, I rather hope you’ll rebuff the gaggle of girls my aunt will be inflicting on me.”

“And how am I supposed to that?” Renji asked around a mouthful of soba. “Meet them at the door with Zabimaru?”

“That might work,” Byakuya mused. “But your presence alone will be a deterrent. Plus, you’ll give me an excuse to say ‘no’ to any number of ridiculous social events.”

“Seriously? I’m your cover?”

Byakuya lifted an eyebrow, “Basically. Yes.”

Renji laughed lightly at the idea. Wasn’t this usually in reverse? You were supposed to find a female “beard,” weren’t you? He slurped a few more noodles before saying, “I find it kind of hard to believe that you can’t scare off a bunch of silly noblewomen on your own. Give them that icy glare and turn up the spiritual pressure, Taicho. No one would come anywhere near you.”

“Indeed,” Byakuya said dryly. “But my family and the Hanami are entirely different kinds of battlefields, and ones I find I’m not so deft at conquering. Besides, you haven’t yet met my aunt. Her glare is legendary; I have no hope of surpassing her.”

“Yikes,” Renji said.

“Just so.”

#

 

They spent the rest of dinner discussing the itinerary of the festival and all the various ins-and-outs of etiquette and social graces that Renji would have to negotiate as part of the Kuchiki entourage.

The servant returned to clear away dishes and bring a bottle of sake and a few desserts. Renji forgot himself and handed a plate to her with a “Thanks, Aio.”

Both she and Byakuya looked slightly scandalized.

“Aw, crap,” Renji said, realizing the irony of his misstep in the middle of all this talk about proper behavior at the Imperial Gardens. “Are you sure about this, sir? Maybe you can’t take _Inuzuri_ out of the man, after all.”

Byakuya waved away the hesitating servant. “You’ll be fine. Besides, there’s no one else I would have at my side.”

Wow. That was almost romantic, but did it really mean what Renji wanted it to? ‘Have’ wasn’t really the ideal word here. ‘Want’ or, better yet ‘desire’ would have been nicer.

The servant left with the whisper of the closing door. Byakuya reached across the table and caught Renji’s chin with his fingertips. “And, who better to spend the weekend with?”

Byakuya planted a long, deep kiss on Renji’s surprised, open mouth.

When he pulled away, Byakuya asked, “Would you like to stay tonight?”

“Yes,” Renji breathed without hesitation. But, he found himself adding, “But, I’m not sure my wrists can take it.”

“Oh?” Byakuya frowned. He hissed when he saw Renji’s bruises. He took both of Renji’s hands in his and turned them over, inspecting the purpling welts. “You fought much harder than I realized. Kidō would have immobilized you more completely. I’m sorry.”

Sorry for not using better restraints? Damn. Renji pulled his hands away.

“Have you been in pain all day?” Byakuya asked, not meeting his eyes.

 _Not from that_ , Renji thought but didn’t say. “If you really want to apologize for something, how about—“

Zabimaru made a little noise that was almost like a warning snarl. _Turn the blade._

Renji frowned. Am I turning his blade, or rolling over and offering my neck?

_We are not his beast._

_But we can still respect his mastery_ , whispered the second voice _. And avoid the cut._

 _Fine,_ Renji thought. Zabimaru understood Senbonzakura so much better than he did Byakuya. He would listen to his zanpaktō. He shook off his growing funk with a shift of his shoulders, and finished instead, “—how about you start with a kiss to make it all better.”

When Byakuya lifted his gaze, Renji was able to muster a mischievous little grin. Like a kid with an owie, he thrust his arm across the table and pointed at one of the more nasty-looking bruises.

“There,” Renji commanded.

Byakuya looked at Renji’s outstretched arm for a long moment, saying nothing. Then, he bowed his head and planted a soft kiss where Renji had indicated.

Seeing Byakuya bent like that, in supplication, sucked the breath from Renji’s lungs and brought a deep thrill to his body. It was far too easy to imagine Byakuya bowed somewhere else, and that idea brought Renji’s cock up hard.

 _Shit, Matsumoto’s right_ , Renji thought. _I am a total puppy for him_.

Byakuya eyes were down but his mouth turned up in a light smile when he raised his head. “I see. Just the remedy, after all. Tell me, where else does it hurt?”

“Oh,” Renji said, “All over.”

Byakuya stood up. “Perhaps you’d better come over by the bed and let me take a look.”

“Yeah,” Renji agreed, getting to his feet. However, first he quickly picked up the table and put it outside in the hallway. The last thing he needed was a servant interrupting them. Before closing the door, he hesitated, and then grabbed a couple of sweets and the bottle of sake. Maybe, if there was a decent after this time, they could have a little treat. He set the goodies on Byakuya’s dressing table, and all but scampered to the bed.

Renji was never happier to see that Byakuya had taken the same moment to slip the k enseikan out of his hair and put it and that massively expensive scarf into their respective boxes.

“Let me take a look at you,” Byakuya said. “Will you undress for me?”

 _Oh_.

It wasn’t like Renji didn’t know Byakuya liked to watch. The captain’s eyes had been on him all day, and now, it seemed, he wanted even more of a show.

But… this was a bit different than what he’d been hoping for… a little kinkier. Heat colored Renji’s cheeks, but his breath quickened despite himself. He had to look away, at the floor, though he could feel the weight of Byakuya’s gaze as keenly as the captain’s sudden increased hungry, needful reistsu.

He could say ‘no,’ he supposed. Even as he was considering it, he reached up and untied his headscarf. He shrugged to himself. He really couldn’t see any harm in playing along. Besides, what had Yumichika said? Maybe he should just deal with the fact that this was part of who Byakuya was and roll with it.

Anyway, the quicker out of his clothes the faster into bed.

Letting the scarf fall to the floor, he undid his hair as well. _Number four_ , he thought dropping that as well. It’d been a bad week for hair ties. Still, he shouldn’t complain. At least they’d all been sacrificed for sex instead of torn and bloodied.

His hair fell in front of his face. It was so thick and unruly, and the last few nights he slept on it without even braiding it. It was a mass of snarls. At least, it gave him a bit of a curtain to hide behind. After all, the most difficult part was next. The hardest, as always, was removing Zabimaru.

Byakuya had been right in a way. He never felt more exposed and bare than without his zanpaktō. Maybe, in their own fashion, the tattoos _did_ represent never having to leave Zabimaru behind--the marks bridged the gap, made them one and the same.

With a steadying breath, he pulled the sword from his obi. Crouching, he laid it on the floor. His fingers lingered on the sheath a moment, before letting it go. His hand trembled a little, but he stood up, leaving Zabimaru behind.

Next, he undid the obi. As he unwound it, everything began to fall loose. He felt the kosode slide open, exposing more of his chest. At the same time, the hakama dropped to rest against hipbones.

Byakuya made a small noise, almost like a whine. Renji glance up to see the captain’s expression. If Renji didn’t know him as well as he was beginning to, he would have thought he imagined the sound. But, he could see it now—the captain’s arousal. The slight tremble in Byakuya’s eyes, the way his mouth was just barely open.

Renji let the obi join the small pile at his feet. He wondered if he should prolong this, draw out Byakuya’s pleasure. But he wasn’t sure he could play the part of sashaying seductress. Not like that, and, anyway, it seemed plenty clear the captain liked what he was doing, as simple and straight-forward as it was.

So he shifted his shoulders and let gravity pull the silk shirts to the floor. He understood Byakuya enough not to hurry to release the hakama just yet. He didn’t need to look up to sense the captain’s eyes on him, no doubt following each line of the tattoos. This was how it all started, after all. Such fascination Byakuya seemed to have for them; he’d even been making up his own reasons for Renji’s ink. Where they always on his mind?

He continued to hesitate, one hand clutching the waist of the hakama.

“Renji,” Byakuya’s voice startled him with its hoarse, huskiness. “Please?”

 _Oh god._ _Byakuya begging?_ Renji had to hold back a groan of his own, and he let go of the hakama. The fabric dropped to the floor with a soft rustle. The cool night air brought goose pimples to his naked skin, and he shivered slightly with the sudden, utter exposure.

He heard Byakuya’s deep intake of breath. “Yes,” he whispered, in almost a purr. “Simply magnificent.”

The compliment only heightened Renji’s sense of being on exhibit, especially since cock was all but throbbing in anticipation.

He started to move to the bed, but Byakuya’s voice stopped him. “Would you… touch yourself?”

Well, fuck, if someone didn’t soon, Renji was going to be in a world of pain. Still, he grit his teeth and admonished himself for not realizing this was probably where things was headed from the moment he started getting undressed.

He let his hand stray to do what came naturally. Renji stared down at the bed he wished they were in together, and, specifically to the spot of the bed he was thinking of as ‘his side.’ Quick strokes had him shuddering, his breath coming fast.

Yet what should be consuming his attention--didn’t quite. Renji couldn’t entirely block out the shadowed form of his captain, still dressed in his uniform, leaning against his dressing table. Byakuya’s knuckles white where they gripped the edge behind him. His spiritual pressure fluttered hems and hair in its increasing excitement.

Renji continued his ministrations, his body ready, but his mind a tangle. Why? Why did Byakuya always ask for these things when he was stone cold sober? He longingly glanced just behind the captain at what sat on the dressing table. If he had that bottle of sake in him, there wouldn’t even be a moment’s hesitation. After all, this was a skill set he’d mastered at an early age. Drunk enough, he’d do it in front of the entire Division. Somehow, sober, and with _him_ , it felt….

Well, not _dirty_ so much as it made him realize what he’d prefer. And what he wanted was so boring, so mundane… so settled down and married. Honestly, when Byakuya had asked him to stay the night, part of him would have been perfectly okay if all they did is slept in the same bed.

Why did he have to fall in love? What a useless, distracting emotion love was! This would be such awesome meaningless sex. Byakuya was surprisingly inventive, after all. It was always the quiet ones that surprised you, wasn’t it?

“You have your thinking face on again,” Byakuya’s voice sounded husky, yet amused. “Is there going to be violence?”

Renji laughed roughly. “You wish.”

“I do,” Byakuya admitted, “Wish you _would_ be a little rougher.”

 _Oh, my_.

Even though his cheeks heated, Renji gave his cock a little slap.

The captain let out a moan which almost brought Renji to his knees. Byakuya’s voice was little more than a whisper, “You can take more than that, can’t you, Renji? Show me how you like it.”

 _How I like it? Shit, you have no idea _, Renji thought. But, despite himself, he gave the captain exactly what he wanted: a hard enough spank to make him wince and let out a little noise.

“Again.”

Renji was panting from the sting, and, more embarrassing, ready to come. Since there wasn’t going to be another opportunity, Renji gave the last smack all he had. Then, he doubled over and dropped to his hands and knees, spilling everything over the tatami mats in great heaving shudders. His whole body trembled, weak and spent.

“So lovely.”

Renji just knelt there, on trembling hands and knees, his head bent, trying to catch his breath. He finally felt a little dirty, a little… used. Shame quivered through him, bringing heat to his skin. There was no denying it. He was just a dog, after all, and this man was his master.

“Beautiful,” Byakuya continued, “And so much more obedient than I would have expected.”

Renji just shook his head and let out a little, dejected laugh. “I guess I’m full of surprises, eh?”

He looked up to see Byakuya standing over him, completely naked. While he’d been recovering, the captain must have taken that time to remove his clothes. It was just as obvious that Byakuya wasn’t yet… satisfied.

 _Hell_ , Renji thought pulling himself up a little, _I’m already on my knees._

“You remember what I like?” Byakuya asked, his fingers lightly stroking a tangled strand of Renji’s hair.

They’d only done this once before, but he’d followed commands then, too. “Yes, sir.”

 

#

 

The one thing Renji enjoyed about being in this position was that he was completely in control of Byakuya’s pleasure. He didn’t have the kind of skill to really make the captain beg, but he made sure to prolong things as long as possible. Renji was pleased with all the noise he elicited from his reticent captain, and how sweaty and flushed Byakuya was by the end.

Not much revenge, but it was still satisfying to hear Byakuya Kuchiki gasping his name.

Byakuya collapsed onto the bed, sprawling in a very undignified way.

As much as Renji wanted to crawl in next to him, he knew that was just a recipe for heartache. He gathered up his clothes and Zabimaru. Standing up, he headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Byakuya demanded, propping himself up on his elbows.

Renji stood at the threshold, where he was shrugging back into his uniform, and frowned. Byakuya was the one who’d insisted that Renji needed to leave in the pre-dawn last time. Renji folded the shitagi and kisode around his waist, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“We agreed you’d stay.”

“’Stay’ is over, Taicho,” Renji said, though his eyes strayed longingly to the bed and that side he really wished he could claim. He stomped into the hakama and threaded the obi through it. Jamming Zabimaru into place, he pulled open the door slightly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

The rush of air, and then Renji felt an iron grip grasp his elbow.

A snarl pulled at Renji’s lips until he turned to see his captain’s face. Byakuya looked… hurt. It wasn’t much, just the way his eyes seemed to plead silently, in that direct, penetrating gaze. Renji couldn’t hold onto his anger while looking into those soft, gray eyes. With a shrug, he shut the door.

“Fine,” Renji said. Then he pointed to the bed, “But that’s my side of the bed, understand?”

A soft smile graced Byakuya’s face, “As you wish.”


End file.
